Election victory no mandate to gut health care in Alberta, says HSAA president

Messages from new Health Minister's office resemble cost-cutting of '90s.

by the Health Sciences Association of Alberta

EDMONTON, April 9, 2008 — Support for further privatization of our public health-care system, or drastic cuts thereto, would constitute a grave misdiagnosis of the issues by Alberta's new health minister, says the President of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta.

"It would be naïve for Mr. Liepert (new Alberta Health Minister Ron Liepert) to misconstrue an overwhelming election victory for his party with a mandate to gut Medicare in this province," said Elisabeth Ballermann, President of the HSAA which represents more than 16,000 Albertans who work in the health-care sector.

"Finding efficiencies within a public health-care system is one thing, but the tone of message filtering out of Mr. Liepert's office most recently, indicates cost-cutting measures resembling those that ravaged this province in the early 1990s."

The minister has publicly admitted significant changes to the delivery of health care are on the way. . .